Kinshasa Symphony

Kinshasa Symphony documentary video by Claus Wischmann and Martin Baer. Features the Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste with conductor Armand Diangienda. Script by Claus Wischmann; camera by Martin Baer; sound by Pascal Capitolin; edits by Peter Klum; music by Jan Tilman Schade; production management by Karl-Martin Lötsch; executive production by Stefan Pannen and Holger Preuße; editorial department work by Jutta Krug, Lothar Mattner, and Petra Schmitz. Released in 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: X-B-

I'm glad I watched this documentary because it gave me 70 minutes of eye-opening images of ordinary life in a giant modern-day undeveloped-country catastrocity (here Kinshasa, the capital of the Congo). It's heart searing to realize that maybe a third of all the souls on earth live like this. True, it's also heart warming to see how the folks trapped in these vast slums retain their humanity and strive to improve.  And if some of these folks learn to make their own instruments and try to perform classical music, then by extension, maybe they can also learn how to keep the lights on.

With one exception, there's not much in this film for fine-arts lovers. But there is a short passage in the film that proves something I'll never forget: the ladies of Kinshaha can sing Handel  (or just about anything else I think) as well as anyone on earth. With proper casting and coaching, I think one could form a Kinshasa Choir that could one day tour Europe (and I don't mean 100 years from now).

The makers of this film avoided platitudes and wisdom mongering.  They tell their story by following members of the orchestra through their daunting daily lives and showing clips from rehearsals and performances. The indivdual stories are tied together with brief comments from Armand Diangienda, the conductor, who is also, I believe, a religious and perhaps political figure in the Congo. The quality of the video and sound recording is quite good.

This is, of course, an "X" title.  I want to give it the grade of "C";  but to keep from feeling too guilty, I'll bump it up to "B-." That's a real achievement considering where this all started.

We certainly would like to hear from anyone who knows more about the the Kinshasa Symphony,  the arts in the Congo, or Armand Diangienda.